NEW YORK: US stocks followed their European counterparts lower Monday, dragged down by doubts over the strength of the EU pact aimed at ending the eurozone financial crisis.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 162.87 points (1.34 percent) to finish the session at 12,021.39.
The broader S&P 500 lost 18.72 points (1.49 percent) to 1,236.47, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite shed 34.59 (1.31 percent) to 2,612.26.
Wall Street stocks spent the session swimming in red.
The slump came "amid growing pessimism that last week's fiscal pact agreement in Europe will yield substantive results in solving the festering eurozone debt crisis," Charles Schwab analysts said.
Analysts said there remained many questions over the deal in last Friday's European Union summit in which 26 of 27 EU countries -- Britain dissented -- backed tougher fiscal limits in the future.
"The combined potential firepower put forward to deal with the eurozone sovereign debt crisis still looks limited, should Italy and Spain run into serious problems," said IHS Global Insight's chief European economist Howard Archer.
Intel shares sank 4.0 percent after the company lowered its fourth-quarter earnings outlook, blaming the months of flooding in Thailand that shut down some of the world's largest plants making computer disk drives.
The disruption is forcing computer makers to slow production and trim their orders for Intel chips. Dell dropped 2.3 percent.
Boeing fell 1.4 percent after UAE airline Etihad Airways ordered 10 787 Dreamliners and two 777s in a deal valued at $2.8 billion according to list prices.
Boeing also announced Monday it would raise its quarterly dividend to 44 cents from 42 cents, the level set in December 2008.
Pfizer slipped 0.8 percent after announcing a $10 billion share buyback program and naming chief executive Ian Read as board chairman.
AT&T edged up 0.22 percent. The telecom giant, Germany's Deutsche Telekom and US justice officials on Monday won court approval to delay an antitrust trial, giving the firms more time to consider whether they will pursue a T-Mobile takeover deal.
Martin Marietta Materials, a leading crushed stone and gravel producer, rose 1.7 percent after unveiling a hostile $4.7 billion takeover bid for Vulcan Materials. Vulcan skyrocketed 15.35 percent.
Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.01 percent from 2.05 percent on Friday, while the 30-year dropped to 3.05 percent from 3.10 percent.
Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions.
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